


leveling out

by acoostic



Series: a whole new world (literally) [30]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Multiple Soulmarks, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, kakairu is more implied than anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:55:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28001271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acoostic/pseuds/acoostic
Summary: All his life, Shikamaru had assumed people could only have one soulmate and one soulmark. Therefore he knows, as he stares at the spiral on the palm of his hand, that he's been destined to be stuck in a one-sided relationship for the rest of his life.So it's a bit of a shock when he finds out that he's come to that conclusion with incomplete data.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Nara Shikamaru/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: a whole new world (literally) [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/294353
Comments: 9
Kudos: 305





	leveling out

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: the one where you get matching marks/symbols/tattoos

For as long as Shikamaru can remember, he’s had the red spiral in the center of his right hand. It feels as part of him as playing shogi or tending to the deer.

When his father saw it the first time, he smiled softly and nodded in approval. Shikamaru took this as confirmation of his theory as to who it meant, but when he later asked Chouji about his soulmark, his best friend blinked at him and revealed that his soulmark on his stomach was actually a Kumogakure symbol outlined in red.

“Who else has a red spiral as their symbol?” Shikamaru had asked as the two of them laid back and watched the clouds.

Chouji shrugged. “All Konoha chuunin and up wear a red spiral on the back of their vests.”

“So you’re saying it could feasibly be anyone in the whole village?”

With a sheepish grin, Chouji replied, “I guess so.”

Shikamaru sighed. “I knew this whole soulmate thing would be troublesome.”

Chouji laughed and the pair of them stayed out until Shikamaru’s dad came to find them for dinner.

——

Naruto has never put much stock in soulmates and soulmarks. He remembers them being a big deal when they all started the Academy — with everyone trying to match up their marks as best as they could. It didn’t take long for all the girls whose mark wasn’t already an Uchiha fan to _wish_ it was an Uchiha fan.

The feral energy surrounding Sasuke made Naruto glad that the Uchiha fan he had was on his right shoulder, a place he could easily cover up. He, for one, didn’t relish having the coveted symbol, but it did make him feel special for having the mark that everyone else wanted.

Of course, it made it hurt all the more when Sasuke left, and then again when he couldn’t convince him to come back again.

He doesn’t realize the mark has started to fade until he’s getting healed by Sakura on a mission.

“It’s not as bright as it used to be,” she comments softly, her eyes sad.

“Huh?” Naruto looks over at her, only to see that her gaze is fixed on his shoulder. He glances down and realizes that she’s right. “Oh, I didn’t notice. I thought it was just getting sun bleached from my training with Ero-sennin.”

Sakura finishes patching him up and then sits in silence for a moment before she slowly pulls back her shirt so that Naruto can see the Uchiha fan mark on her collarbone. Hers is as bright as the day Naruto first saw his own. He looks back down at his, which had at some point become a dark red and dingy off-white.

“What do you think it means?” asks Sakura, her eyes tearing up. 

“I don’t know,” Naruto replies, one of his hands moving to cover one of hers, “But we’ll figure it out once we bring Sasuke home.”

She gives him a small smile, and he returns it. If there is one thing Naruto does know, it’s that Team 7 will always figure these things out together.

——

Shikamaru figures out his soulmark during the chuunin exams. It starts falling into place around the second test, when Team 10 helps out Team 7. He doesn’t remember there being the same symbol on the back of Naruto’s jacket that all the other Konoha shinobi bore, but there it is, glaring at him.

It continues to haunt him throughout the preliminaries of the third test, and he finds himself clenching his fists during Naruto’s match. He bears no ill-will towards Kiba, but can’t help wishing for Naruto to win.

After the preliminaries, Shikamaru doesn’t have time to think about Naruto — Asuma makes sure of that with all the new training regimes he implements during that next month, but right before the final test is to convene, he finds himself sitting at Naruto’s bedside in the hospital. Naturally, the idiot has gotten himself seriously hurt enough during his own training to land him in the hospital.

“I thought I’d find you here.” Shikamaru starts, and looks behind him to see his dad standing in the doorway, a soft smile on his face.

Shikamaru rolls his eyes at his dad before turning back in his chair to watch Naruto. “You’ve really known it was him since that day?”

Shikaku hums, walking in to stand beside his chair. “I have.”

“You could’ve told me that it wasn’t Chouji,” grouses Shikamaru.

“Half the fun of it is figuring out who your soulmate is on your own.”

Shikamaru huffs. “What do you do when you finally find your soulmate but you also find out your not theirs?”

Shikaku raises his eyebrow and Shikamaru points at Naruto’s right shoulder. He walks towards the other side of the bed, but Shikaku stops at the foot of the bed because he doesn’t need to go any further. From there he can see just under the sleeve of Naruto’s right arm, and Shikamaru feels bitter comfort in the pained expression his dad tries to mask.

“I’m sorry, Shikamaru,” is all his dad says, walking back over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. He squeezes briefly before leaving, shutting the door gently behind him.

Shikamaru remains there in silence, feeling, not for the first time, mocked by the Uchiha fan.

——

It isn’t until after his final fight with Sasuke that Kakashi, while visiting Naruto in the hospital, brushes the hair away from the back of his neck and goes, “Huh.”

Frowning, Naruto tries to look back at his teacher turned Hokage. “What do you mean, _huh_?”

“I didn’t know you had a secondary soulmark.”

Naruto’s heart thumps in his chest. The mark on his shoulder is faded, like an old tattoo. He long ago accepted that Sasuke belonged to Sakura, whose mark remained vibrant even while Sasuke was with Orochimaru and while he was wanted by Kumogakure, but he didn’t realize that it was possible to have multiple soulmarks.

“I — “ Naruto swallows roughly. “I didn’t realize I _had_ a second mark.”

Kakashi hums, taking his hand away as he moves so that he can see Naruto’s face better. “Not terribly surprising since it’s on the back of your neck. I definitely don’t recall seeing it there when Team 7 first formed, but who’s to say when it did appear.”

“Can you tell what it is?”

His teacher hesitates then, but only for a second. “It’s the Nara clan symbol.”

For once in his life, it only takes Naruto a second to figure out not only who his soulmate is, but also when the mark had to have formed.

“Oh,” he whispers, left hand digging into the bedsheets. Naruto feels something suspiciously similar to hope welling up inside him, but at the same time his stomach swims with nausea.

Kakashi grips Naruto’s shoulder tightly, making him look up. Once their eyes lock, Kakashi smiles with both of his eyes. “If I’m honest, you’ll have a much easier go of this than your last one.”

With that, Kakashi leaves, and Naruto can’t help but laugh quietly because damn if he isn’t right.

——

Shikamaru doesn’t visit Naruto in the hospital like he normally would. Unfortunately he’s too busy lately to indulge in little things like that right now. He has to take care of his mother and his clan — not to mention babysit Kakashi, who becomes Hokage somehow while Shikamaru is mired in grief. It turns out when Shikaku died Shikamaru inherited _all_ of his responsibilities, even the role of head strategist and attendant to the Hokage.

“Shouldn’t you be out having fun?” asks Kakashi one day while Shikamaru helps him organize the piles on his desk.

“Tch, I can’t go until we’ve gotten you caught up on all your paperwork. Iruka-sensei threatened _me_ as well this time.”

Kakashi cringes, and Shikamaru gets a small amount of joy out of it. “Well, then we can’t disappoint him, can we?”

They fall back into silence, and Shikamaru hopes that that’s the end of it.

“Can I ask you a question, Shikamaru?”

With a sigh, Shikamaru replies, “You already have, Rokudaime-sama, but go ahead.”

Kakashi scowls at the address, and it makes Shikamaru grin. He knows that Kakashi hates being addressed formally, and it’s the easiest way to annoy him.

“I was just wondering, oh wonderful assistant of mine, if you ever found your soulmate. I know both of your genin teammates found theirs during the war, so I was just wondering if you’d had the same luck.”

Shikamaru freezes. He hadn’t expected that question, and he isn’t sure how he feels about answering it. Eventually, after shuffling more papers around, he sighs and resigns himself to telling the truth. “I’ve known who my soulmate was long before the Fourth Shinobi War.”

“Oh?” Kakashi looks up from the papers he’s signing, and already Shikamaru feels regret emerging inside. “Then how come I’ve never seen you with anyone?”

“Knowing who they are doesn’t equate to being with them,” he adds quietly, his right hand clenching.

“Fair enough, I suppose,” Kakashi replies, and Shikamaru thinks that will be it. “Do they know?”

“I think they know who _their_ soulmate is,” Shikamaru says, refusing to look at Kakashi. “It just so happens that it’s not me.”

“Hmm, I wonder though,” Kakashi begins cryptically, and Shikamaru eyes him suspiciously, “If maybe they have multiple soulmarks.”

“Multiple soulmarks?”

Kakashi nods, and Shikamaru finds himself turning away from what he’s doing to focus on what Kakashi has to say. Even his father never mentioned anything about people having multiple soulmarks. “I’ve seen several shinobi with multiple soulmarks — usually no more than two, depending — including myself.”

“ _You_ have multiple soulmarks?”

“The first one appeared when everyone’s usually appears,” Kakashi presses a finger to where his chin meets his neck, and Shikamaru briefly wonders what shape it takes under that mask. “Then, shortly before the night the Kyuubi attacked, this one started to fade and after a few months a new one appeared.” His fingers move to tap the spot on his chest right over his heart. “We live in a dangerous world; a lot of people lose their first soulmate. I guess even the biology behind the phenomenon isn’t cruel enough to tie us down to one person even after death.”

Taking in this information, Shikamaru shakes his head. “But their soulmate isn’t dead.”

“Death doesn’t always take the same final form, Shikamaru,” says Kakashi, resting his head on his hand as he watches his assistant absorb everything, “Sometimes it’s more of a figurative death than literal. The end of an era, so to speak.”

“I find that hard to believe in my instance.” He thinks about how many times over the years Naruto has doggedly gone after Sasuke, and it doesn’t feel right to imagine a world in which Naruto _wouldn’t_. “They’re pretty devoted to their first soulmate.”

“People change. They grow up and realize that maybe those they’ve wanted since they were children perhaps are better suited for someone else because both of them have matured to be two different people. They realize that someone else has been there for them all those years — someone who’s supported them through everything.” Kakashi locks eyes with Shikamaru, and he can tell that he’s being evaluated. He just doesn’t know for what.

“There are also thousands of people who go through life with only the one soulmark, so what makes you think that mine is any different?”

Kakashi shrugs, a look of feigned indifference falling onto his face. “It takes years for soulmarks to change, so I doubt the secondary one I saw when I visited him in the hospital the other week has already faded.”

Shikamaru stills, anxiety trying to throw his body into fight or flight but instead getting it stuck in _frozen_. “You — “ He sighs, running a shaky hand over his head. “Of course you’ve figured it out.”

“You’re less careful about hiding it during battles,” Kakashi says, gesturing towards Shikamaru’s right hand. “I saw it during the fight with Kakuzu and Hidan.”

“And you didn’t tell him?”

“It wasn’t mine to tell.” Kakashi tilts his head and lets out a slow exhale. “I mean, I _guess_ I did inadvertently end up telling him because it was me who informed him of the Nara clan symbol on the back of his neck, but it was still up to him to put the pieces together. Right, Naruto?”

Shikamaru slowly turns around to follow Kakashi’s gaze to where Naruto stands outside the window of the Hokage’s office, right arm sleeve fluttering out behind him and a shy smile on his face.

“You’re an ass, Kakashi-sensei,” says Naruto as he hops over the windowsill and into the room. The grateful expression he shoots towards his teacher contradicts his words however. 

“Maa, all three of you grew up to be so ungrateful. I’m going to take a break from this paperwork hell.” Kakashi stands up from his desk, and when he passes Naruto on his way to the window, he places a comforting hand on his shoulder for a moment before jumping out.

Shikamaru watches as two shadows flit after him, and he briefly wonders if he can get away with punching the Hokage for setting him up later.

“Poor Iruka-sensei,” mutters Naruto as he stares fondly out the window for a moment.

“Don’t worry; he’s got a sixth sense when it comes to Kakashi-sensei.”

“I think it’s more he’s got a sense for incoming trouble. Certainly always seemed to know when I was up to something.” He chuckles to himself before he looks nervously over at Shikamaru. “How long is long before the war?”

Shikamaru holds Naruto’s gaze, if only through sheer will to not look like a wimp. The flight instinct has started to wake up. “Does it matter?”

A soft smile inches over Naruto’s face. “No, but just call me the cat that curiosity might kill.”

“Fine,” he sighs and stretches his arms out behind his head, eyes darting away for a moment before he replies hurriedly, “Since the chuunin exams.”

He hears Naruto make a soft noise of surprise, but there’s only a warm smile on his face when Shikamaru looks back at him. “Funnily enough, I think I’ve had mine since around then, but I guess I’m still the Number One Knucklehead Ninja because I didn’t even know it until Kakashi-sensei pointed it out to me the other day.” Naruto turns to show him the back of his neck, his left hand lifting up the tufts of hair there so Shikamaru can get a good look. It’s only maybe an inch wide in diameter, so Shikamaru can’t really blame him for missing it for so long. Shyly Naruto glances back and asks, “It is your clan symbol, right? It’s not really Kakashi-sensei’s style to mess with me about this sorta thing, but he’s been kinda weird ever since he became Hokage.”

“Y-Yeah,” Shikamaru mutters, eyes taking in the stark black lines of his all too familiar clan symbol, just this time drawn onto Naruto’s skin instead of a piece of clothing or a wall. He glances down at his right hand and can’t help smiling to himself a little as he holds out his hand to Naruto. “And I take it this seems a little familiar, huh?”

Naruto’s smile is near blinding, and Shikamaru wants to look at it forever. “Seen it near every damn day of my life.”

They’re both quiet for a moment, allowing processing to happen, and Shikamaru is grateful for Naruto’s learned ability to be silent for brief periods of time. Their eyes haven’t left each other’s, and Shikamaru thanks the gods for the small distance between them so that Naruto can’t hear the rapid beating of his heart.

“I think this is the part of Jiraiya’s novels where the leads start making out,” says Naruto offhandedly, a small blush on his cheeks as he scratches the back of his neck — _where his soulmark is_ , and Shikamaru finds himself reddening as well. 

“We both know those aren’t very accurate to real life.”

Naruto barks out a laugh, smile widening into a grin, “Oh for sure, but I kinda get it now, y’know?”

He glances over at the small couch in the Hokage’s office, and Shikamaru is all too aware of how many nights he’s come in to give Kakashi some more paperwork only to find their esteemed Hokage tangled up with Iruka-sensei. Shikamaru swallows roughly, “I think I do.”

“Hmm, you know what _I_ think, Shikamaru?” Their eyes meet, and Shikamaru can’t help but fall a little more in love with the mischievous glint in those blue eyes. “I think we should get outta here before Kakashi-sensei gets back. Plus, I heard that Ichiraku is running a special where if you buy two bowls of ramen for an Uzumaki, the third one is free.”

“What ever happened to splitting the check on the first date?”

“Pfft,” Naruto begins as he steps forward and grabs Shikamaru’s wrist. He tugs gently until Shikamaru starts following him. Looking back at him once their in the hallway and heading down to the main floor, Naruto beams, “I think we both know this is hardly our first date. Plus I’ll be saving you money with this deal, just you wait!”

Shikamaru doesn’t mention that no, it won’t, because he eats a small fraction of what Naruto does. He doesn’t mention that his skin is tingling where they’re touching because he’s afraid to draw attention to it. In fact, the only words that manage to fight their way out from around the lump in Shikamaru’s throat is, “I always knew you’d be a troublesome soulmate.”

“Hah, don’t lie, you wouldn’t have it any other way, y’know!”

Naruto focuses his attention on piloting them safely to his beloved Ichiraku, and Shikamaru tries not to pay attention to the fact that no one they pass seems even moderately surprised to see them as they are — Naruto’s left hand gripping Shikamaru’s right wrist, while he babbles about all the ramen he’s going to eat.

_No,_ Shikamaru thinks, a content smile sliding onto his face, _I don’t think I would._

**Author's Note:**

> they kiss like, two days later, in front of the hospital as shikamaru escorts naruto to a checkup, and everyone goes " _finally_ "
> 
> [knocks on door] hello, it's me again, with that shikanaru agenda. i hope you're all doing well. this has been sitting, 85% done for uhh [checks notes] like four+ months?
> 
> anyway, hope you liked it!!


End file.
